Like a lot of Patreon-funded creators, I’m taking a hit from these bullshit new rules. So the question arises, what would a non-bullshit version of Patreon look like?
I can think of a few things:
- Platform-funded rather than fee-funded. In other words, not!Patreon would have a not!Patreon page of its own, which is where it would get its money. Users would be encouraged but not at all required to contribute.
- Not for profit. Because everything that’s for profit turns evil sooner or later, usually sooner.
- Minimizes fees the same way PayPal or online games do: patrons deposit money in a lump sum into an account, incurring one processing fee charged to not!Patreon by the card processing service, then all their pledges are deducted from that account and transferred to the creators’ accounts (minus the processing fees, which are spread proportionately across the pledges). Creators can then withdraw the money from their accounts, incurring a second one-time processing fee.
- The only content restrictions are hate speech, promotion of violence, and illegal activity. Sex workers, porn writers, advocates of fringe political movements, cults, you’re all welcome as long as you’re not bigots or criminals. Or at least aren’t using the platform for your bigotry/crime.
- Creator blogs, with support for text, images (PLURAL goddammit), polls, and embedded video or audio from other sites (e.g. YouTube).
- Allows switching between, or possibly even mixing, per-post and per-month goals.
What else have people got for the wishlist?